1. Honda Prelude. Bought with 150,000 and drove it another 72k.
2. Honda Accord. Hit an elk and drove me 100 miles home and drove itself to the junkyard.
3. Ford Focus. Lasted three months.
4. Nissan Altima. Sold when I joined the Army. I tried to find another when I came home.
5. Ford Focus. Lasted three weeks.
6. Subaru Forester. I replaced the head gasket, AC hoses, power steering hose, knock sensor, half shaft, and probably much more.
7. Honda Civic. Bought with 170,000, have added a little over 50,000. She has had several repairs, but the current average is less than $35 a month.
8. Honda Accord. Have owned one year, driven 10,000 miles, and the $110 cat is the first failure. I wish my Civic drove as well.
Mom has had her Camry 165,000 miles and eleven years. All that she has needed to do is replace the struts.
The Celiac Kid at the bakery declared that if you purchase a used car, you pay for a new car in repairs. He bought a Volkswagen. Those do not score well on those studies or any other ones I have seen, although the one we discussed in
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ons-31037.html showed Mini as the worst.
I find it interesting this chart shows Mercedes doing so well. Scotty Kilmer says they are money pits, dozens of computers that eventually fail, and endless plastic parts that start breaking after nine years.
I have spent perhaps $10,000 in seventeen years. My sister bought her Traverse new and has paid $10,000 in repairs, but she always has dealerships maintain her car. Do they do a better job? Perhaps. Do they charge more? Usually and often very much. She keeps complaining she needs to pay $3,000 to replace the timing belt.
It is a chain.
Repair Pal and its Consumer Reports page do not give an estimate. One of those said dealerships in Phoenix would replace the timing belt on my Accord for $600, but that is before fees and taxes.
I paid over $1,000 to have Pep Boys and another shop replace the timing belts on my Forester and Civic.